Wales Office

Block Grant: Wales

David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what plans the Government has for the future of the block grant to Wales.

Stephen Crabb: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 16 September 2015.The correct answer should have been:

The Government is committed to delivering in full the St David's Day Agreement for Wales.  This includes a commitment to introduce a funding floor at the Spending Review to ensure for the first time that Wales has a funding framework that will stand the test of time.

Stephen Crabb: The Government is committed to delivering in full the St David's Day Agreement for Wales.  This includes a commitment to introduce a funding floor at the Spending Review to ensure for the first time that Wales has a funding framework that will stand the test of time.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Renewable Energy: Subsidies

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to her Department's announcement of 22 July 2015 on renewable energy subsidies, what assessment the Government has made of the effect on international investor confidence in the UK (a) solar and (b) renewable sectors of that announcement; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department has engaged with financial investors during the consultation periods, following the announcement on 22 July 2015. We are currently analysing the feedback provided by all stakeholders and will publish the Government’s response in due course.

Department for Energy and Climate Change: Damages

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much the Government has paid in damages in connection with the judgment in Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change v Friends of the Earth and Others, [2012], EWCA Civ 28 to date.

Andrea Leadsom: To date there has been no award of damages and litigation is ongoing.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what alternative options were considered by her Department when formulating proposals for the feed-in-tariff review.

Andrea Leadsom: The feed-in tariff review consultation invites comment and evidence in relation to a range of proposals for the future of the scheme, up to and including closure of the scheme. The impact assessment gives some indication of the basis on which those proposals have been formulated and the counterfactuals against which they have been developed.

Department for Energy and Climate Change: Freedom of Information

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many hours her Department spent on processing freedom of information requests in each of the last 24 months.

Andrea Leadsom: The number of hours spent on this activity in the Department of Energy and Climate Change is not separately identifiable.

Energy: Prices

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent discussions she has had with energy companies on the competitiveness of energy bills.

Andrea Leadsom: DECC Ministers and officials meet energy company representatives on a regular basis to discuss market issues. Recent meetings have included discussions on the provisional findings of the Competition and Market Authority’s inquiry into the energy markets.

Department for Work and Pensions

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many representations he has received from hon. Members from the Conservative Party on the under-occupancy penalty.

Justin Tomlinson: Representations regarding the removal of the spare room subsidy are received from Hon. Members of all parties, interest groups and members of the public. No central record is kept of the number of representations made, including those specifically made by individuals who identify themselves as members of the Conservative Party. The information requested is therefore not available.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

BBC: Met Office

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when Ministers were informed of the BBC's decision to terminate its contract with the Met Office; and by what means they were so informed.

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with (i) their counterparts in the Department for Culture Media and Sport and (b) the BBC on the termination of the BBC's contract with the Met Office.

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the budgetary implications for the Met Office of the termination of its contract with the BBC.

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of the funds generated by the Met Office's contract with the BBC was spent on research in the last 12 months; and what research projects undertaken by the Met Office in that period the BBC has (a) collaborated with or (b) participated in.

Joseph Johnson: The BBC’s decision not to shortlist the Met Office for its next contract was a commercial decision by the BBC and was communicated by Met Office to my officials and myself as soon as they became aware that they were not being selected for the next stage of the procurement. The ending of the contract in autumn 2016 is not expected to have significant budgetary implications.   Since the communication of the decision I and my officials have been in dialogue with the Met Office and colleagues elsewhere in government in connection with National Severe Weather Warning service, and in turn with the BBC. The Weather Services Agreement between the Met Office and BBC does not include a research element.

UK Trade and Investment

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the membership of the UKTI's Strategic Relations Team is; and which companies are involved with that team.

Anna Soubry: The UKTI Strategic Relationship Management Team is made up of a mixture of Civil Servants and Private Sector staff, managing around 80 companies. The companies are listed in the table.3MDiageoIberdrolaPfizerABBDisneyIBMPrudentialABFDP WorldImagination TechnologiesRocheAonE.ONINEOSRolls RoyceARMEADS AirbusJaguar Land RoverRWEAstraZenecaEDFJCBSABICAtkinsEEJohnson & JohnsonSamsungAvivaEisaiJohnson MattheyShellBabcockEngie (GDF Suez)Lockheed MartinSiemensBAE SystemsFacebookMicrosoftSSEBalfour BeattyFordMitsubishi Heavy IndustriesStatoilBASFGEMitubishi CorporationSyngentaBG GroupGKNMondeléz InternationalTata GroupBMWGlaxoSmithKlineNational GridTelefonicaBombardierGMNestléTime WarnerBPGoogleNissanToshibaBTHitachiNovartisToyotaCaterpillarHondaP&GUnileverCentricaHPPCCWVodafoneCiscoHuaweiPearson Coca-colaHutchison WhampoaPepsiCo

Students: Finance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the level of maintenance support for undergraduate students; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The Student Income and Expenditure Survey which took place earlier this year will report on the finances of HE students in England and Wales. The report is expected to be published in early 2016.   Maintenance support is a contribution to student living costs. However we are increasing the overall cash-in-hand we provide to students to support their cost of living.

Higher Education: Admissions

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2015 to Question 9131, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of admissions to university of students from low-income backgrounds in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The latest information published by UCAS showing the percentage of 18 year olds from the most disadvantaged areas in England who obtain a place at university, is shown in the table. The figures show that in 2014 the entry rate reached its highest ever level.   Entry rates of English 18 year olds from the most disadvantaged areas1.Year of entry 20102011201220132014Entry rate14.015.015.116.418.2 Source: UCAS end of cycle report 2014   1. Quintile 1 of the POLAR2 measure of disadvantage. This measure was developed by HEFCE and classifies small areas across the UK into five groups according to their level of young participation in HE. Each of these groups represents around 20 per cent of young people and is ranked from quintile 1 (areas with the lowest young participation rates, considered as the most disadvantaged) to quintile 5 (highest young participation rates, considered most advantaged).